ROCKFORD — As a new recruit to the Rockford Fire Department in 2009, Rebecca Tyo volunteered to stand at Perryville Road and East State Street to help raise money during the Muscular Dystrophy Association’s fill the boat fundraiser.
She and other new recruits were there collecting donations for hours when a car pulled up, and a young lady reached out to give Tyo a handful of cash. The woman had visible scars. The kind that come from a severe burn.
“When she handed me her cash she said, ‘You guys saved my life’,” Tyo said Tuesday during a ceremony to be officially sworn in as Rockford’s next fire chief…